New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-09-27
IyCORRIGiBLs MISDEMEANANTs.

Professor Wayland's paper Oh incorrigible
Misdemeanants," read before the Social Science
Association at Saratoga, was an argument for
the perpetual Imprisonment OF that large class
Of poor wretches who have become the slaves
Of vicious and immoral habits. and who are,
as experience seems TO prove, beyond reclama-
ton. Professor Wayland finds no dinculty
in demonstrating that those men and women
who will drink and steal and dcbauoh when
ever they are out Of prison do so much mis-
chief to the community by their evil example,
by the loss of capital they cause and by their
propagation of diseased and deprayed children.
that the State is warranted In lsolating them
permanently. IL may be so. But does Pro
lessor Wayland comprehend the full extent
Of the punishment he would intiict2 Had he
proposed in the name of social science and the
safety Of the commonwealth that inoorrigibc
nlisdemeanants should be quietly removed, u
in little more decorous fashion than that en-
ploycd for getting rid Of our surplus dogs, no
doubt he would have produced a decided sen
sition. and would have evoked a chorus OF
rcbukes and charges Of inhumanity. Yet 1t Is
serious question whether the perpetual I'M
prisonmcnt. mention Of which seems TO have
reused no objections, is not much more
severe treatment than the mere infction OF
death.
1t may be said that TO such people as arc
concerned Imprisonment means no more than
deprivation Of the means Of intoxication and
the opportunity for lawlessncss. This is
probably in large measure true, and yet the
course proposed is not one 10 be hastily
acquiesced in. for it is in all its implications
moro than equivalent TO death sentence.
II Is proposed 10 take these people out OF
life once and for all to lock them up until
they die. Now man may be worthless, lazy,
incorporate, prone to pilfer, and yet society
ought to cxpend a great deal Of energy and
patience in trying to reclaim him and 10 neutral :
ize the harm he does before coming 10 the
conclusion that the only way TO deal with hun
is TO condemn him TO life imprisonment. The
severity Of such q penalty is recognized in
its reservation for heinous offenders. 1t is tho
punishment Of murder generally, and even so
there are few States which do not leave loop
holes fol escape from il. Surely the mischief
done to society by the incorrigible misdemean-
ants must be very grave indeed to make ad-
NiSduiC luC dppiiSdtiob w Tic CihsS VI % lIc-
mendous q regimen as Professor Wayland
suggests. Moreover. while society toleratcs
a class Of malefactors every one Of whom
" orks a thousand times more evil than tho
worst misdemeanant on the calendar, it seems
hardly equitable to single out the social wrecks
for special repressve legislation.
There really are many other social COM
plants which call for remedies much more
loudly. just at this time, as, indeed, for a
good many years past we are all perplexed
by the difficulty Of dealing with the increasing
class of malcfactions which consist in the be-
trayal of trusts. the abuse OF hduciary posi-
tions. the employment OF commercial and
financial forms and customs for the swindling
Of investors in various ways One full
crime of this character nfiicts more suffering
and operates more powerfully as an example
lhpn all the whole class OF ncorrigble INSIDE
mcanants can do in a twclvcmonth; and vet
VIC have not been able 10 discover any sure
means Of preventing these far-reaching crimes